Don't Fly Away, Romeo!
by cosmo-queen
Summary: What happens when Greg and Nick concoct a plan to get Sara and Grissom together? Not even they can be sure!
1. The Plan

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DISCLAIMER: Nope. Don't own CSI. Sure, I may torture the characters, but you can't sue someone for being bored with their life and thus wanting to write about TV characters, can you now? You can? In that case, just let me get something out of my car...

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DON'T FLY AWAY, ROMEO!

"I'm a genius!"

The excited voice of Greg Sanders, lab technician turned crime scene investigator, reverberated around the usually silent locker room.

"Did anyone ever tell you what a modest man you are, Greg?", Nick replied, rolling his eyes. However, though he would not admit it to Greg, Nick was feeling pretty excited as well. At first, he had been reluctant to aid Greg with his plan, believing he'd probably be struck by lightning before he'd see one of Greg's eccentric plans work out successfully. Nevertheless, Greg had been persistent, certain that the Texan could supply just the sort of information that would help his cause. Nick had refused on the grounds that making Greg happy would probably result in another friend flying into a murderous rage. But a recent case had changed his outlook on certain matters. And now Greg was an overly ecstatic man, having finally received the information he had desired to put his plan into motion.

Ignoring his friend's remark, Greg immediately proceeded to suggest ideas, enquiring, "What do you think about Jill being the name of my 'friend'?"

"Oh, I don't know, Greg, do you think that's subtle enough?" Nick replied, realising that it would have to be up to him to retain some sort of logic amongst these proceedings.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just that Sara and Grissom have been bugging me so much lately, and it feels so good to actually be _doing _something about it, you know? I mean, it's not that I hadn't noticed it while working in the lab. It broke my heart, but..."

"Your melodramatic ways bring tears to my eyes, Greg," Nick interjected, faking wiping his eyes.

"And your concern for my wellbeing is just so apparent, Nick," Greg continued. "Anyway, watching them while working on that last case, it just drove me..."

"Insane?" Nick concluded, sympathising with the usually chatty lab expert who had rendered himself speechless. The click of Greg's fingers proved his guess had been right. "I know exactly how you feel. You thought that case was bad? Imagine having to put up with them acting like that on cases for the past four years. Four, I tell you!" Nick was surprised at how agitated he himself had become.

"I don't understand, then, why hasn't anyone bothered to do anything about it"

"Perhaps because we want to keep our jobs? I don't think Grissom would be too impressed if the whole team just locked him and Sara in some enclosed area and told him he couldn't come out until the two of them participated in some kinky closet games together."

"Considering you're only mentioning that Grissom would not be impressed, I'm assuming that Sara would not object to participating in kinky closet activities?"

Nick proceeded to give Greg an evil stare, which saw the younger man edge slightly away. Sara was his friend, and whatever 'activities' she decided to get up to in her spare time, he didn't want to know.

"Ok, ok, I guess I'll just have to find another woman," Greg replied with a dreamy look on his face, much to Nick's disgust.

"Really, Greg, I don't want to know. GREG! A NAME!"

Greg snapped out of his daydream.

"Right. Well, um, how about Julie? Come to think of it, I do know a Julie that would be into our plan."

Nick breathed a sigh of relief, finally satisfied with Greg's suggestion. Now all they had to do was put the plan in motion and keep a straight face while it unfolded.

"So... do you think it will work?" Greg asked, seemingly having a brief lapse from the marvels of his ingenuity. "You don't think she'll suspect anything, do you?"

Before Nick could answer, Sara appeared in the doorway, intrigued by the men's conversation. She could sense something was going on, though that was hardly surprising considering she was standing before Greg and Nick. Observing the drop of Greg's eyes to the floor and a gulp in Nick's throat, she also sensed that whatever they were talking about had something to do with her. "Who's supposed to be suspecting something, boys?"

Nick and Greg turned to look at each other, a mutual "here it goes, there's no turning back" passing between them.

Clearing his throat, Greg started, "Well, you see, Sara, we have this plan..."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: I do know where I'm going with this story, but I won't be able to update very often until mid-November, as that's when my exams finish. So please be patient, and you'll find out more about the plan. In the meantime, please review :)


	2. Telling Sara

"That's right, we have a plan," Nick repeated. Usually, Greg was able to mastermind stories and ideas within a matter of seconds, yet this time, it looked like he was having trouble with the spontaneity of the situation. However, Nick was determined not to blow this well thought-out plan at the last second, and so he continued, in what he hoped was a convincing tone, "And we'd like you to be a part of it, Sara!" He clicked his fingers in Sara's direction, smiling weakly at the knowledge of how lame he must have just sounded.

"Right," Sara drawled, "You have a plan. What else is new?" She smirked at the sight of Nick shifting from foot to foot and Greg cracking the knuckles in his fingers. They were sure signs that the boys were nervous.

Greg recovered from his momentary speech loss, cleared his throat again, and proceeded with the rest of his tale. "You see, Sara, my good friend, Julie Wylodos, is getting married, and she and her husband-to-be, being the romantics that they are, decided to write poems to each other, recounting the journey of how they came to be where they are." He took a breath, hoping that Sara had understood his rambling, pleased, however, that he had gained his momentum again.

"Right, while Greg catches his breath, I'll carry on with the plan," Nick continued. "Julie has run into a bit of a problem, you see, because she's not very good at writing poetry..."

"Then why did she agree to write a poem in the first place?" Sara interjected, her face hardening.

"Because she wants to please her fiance," Greg answered, sighing. Why did Sara have to be so inquisitive? And why was she looking more and more displeased when they hadn't even proposed their idea yet?

"Come on, Sara, who knows why people do the things that they do? At least give us a chance to explain what we have in store before you condemn us to hell," Nick interrupted, knowing that, otherwise, Sara would be rebutting Greg all day. He took the fact that she was getting defensive as a good sign, however. It was only natural of those who lacked romance to question those who did have a bit of it in their lives.

Sara turned to look at Nick and, folding her arms over her chest, smiled calmly. "Please, continue."

"Well, as you may have guessed by now, she asked me to write the poem for her. And since she's a bit of a looker, it would hardly have been right of me to refuse."

"The only problem is, Greg and poetry go together like Grissom and parties." Nick smiled at the sound of Sara's chuckle. If he and Greg had their way, then perhaps he would have to revise that little analogy.

"So I found myself in a bit of a dilemma. I'd only ever written a poem once before and that was to ask the girl of my dreams to the prom," Greg started, his eyes becoming dreamy as he recalled past events, and totally oblivious to the fact that Nick and Sara were rolling their eyes. "Oh, Mindy, they say that man's best friends are dogs, but you don't have to be a dog to be my best friend..."

"I'm assuming she said no, Greggo?" Sara laughed, smiling at Nick who had tears coming out of his eyes.

Greg's eyes became focussed once more. Deciding to ignore Nick, he answered, "Let's just say that I have many talents, Sara Sidle, but poetry is not, and will never be, one of them. Anyway, since I don't want to break up my friend's impending marriage, I decided to ask Nick for help. But Nick and poetry go together like you and meat."

"That's lame, Greg, real lame," Nick added, having finished laughing.

"I've learnt from the best, Nick."

"Get to the point, boys. During these last ten minutes, I have learnt that neither of you can write poetry. What does that have to do with me?" Sara asked impatiently.

"Well, on pondering our dilemma, Nick happened to remember a time when he was over your house and while you were searching for some case files, he picked up what he _thought_ was a file, but what _actually_ turned out to be a bit of a poetry collection by yours truly. And so, he suggested that you write the poem. So what I meant when I said I hope she doesn't suspect anything, was that I hope Julie doesn't suspect that it won't be me who writes her poem."

"Hold your horses, Greg. So I write poetry. That doesn't mean it's any good," Sara replied.

"Well, according to Nick..." Greg started, unable to finish before Nick and Sara both started yelling.

"GREG! I TOLD YOU NOT TO SAY ANYTHING!"  
  
"NICK! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU READ THROUGH MY POETRY!"

"Stress less, Sara. It's very good, I especially liked..." However, Sara had become infuriated again.

"YOU LET _GREG_ READ MY POEMS?"

"Hey, you say that as if it's a bad thing!" Greg muttered, feigning a hurt expression.

"NICK! I AM GOING TO _MURDER_ YOU!"

"I expected so much," Nick sighed. Damn Greg and his big mouth.

"Sara!" Greg raised his hands so to mediate the situation. "Chill out! I'll have to read the final product anyway."

Sara stopped her rant and proceeded to smile sweetly. "You say that as if I've accepted your proposition."

"If I could make my eyes appear more puppy dog-like, I would Sara. I'm begging from the core of my heart. Please?" Greg begged.

"Ok, I'll do it," Sara replied, slowly. "I haven't written anything in a long time, it will be good to get my creative juices flowing. Just give me a picture of him. I write best when I have a photo of what I want to write about in front of me. You need to be able to write from the heart, you know."

Nick and Greg looked at each other. They had fabricated the verbal aspect of their plan down to a tee, but a picture? Sure, Nick had seen some photos of sunsets and beaches in Sara's poetry folder, but he had thought they were just random snaps, not sources of inspiration.

"Come on, Sara," Greg laughed nervously, "I don't carry pictures of other people's fiances in my pocket."

"I don't expect you to, Greg. But no picture, no poem. If this Julie is such a good friend of yours, then _surely_ she must've given you a picture of her and her fiance somewhere along the line," Sara continued to smile sweetly. "And if the whole purpose of this conversation was to ask me to write a poem, then surely you would have come prepared with a picture."

"Now that I come to think of it, that picture you have in your lab, Greg, that's Julie's fiance, isn't it?" Nick enquired, "accidentally" stumbling into his friend at the same time.

Greg looked over at Nick. "But of course! How silly of me to forget! Yes, it's...in my lab...on my desk...near...some...DNA samples. Yes, DNA samples!"

"Splendid!" Nick replied. "Well, then, I'll....go...get it!" The locker room door opened, and Nick ran out.

"So, you don't keep photos of other people's fiances in your pocket, Greg, but on your desk instead? Interesting," Sara mused, smirking at Greg's nervous shuffling. The lab technician remained silent, however, and turned to face the door, waiting for Nick's return.

In a manner of minutes, the Texan was back, a huge smile on his face and a picture waving in his hand. "Here it is, Sara, the photo you requested." He winked at Greg as Sara took hold of the paper Nick had handed her.

"So your friend is marrying the guy from the Nescafe ads, Greg?" Sara looked up to observe Greg's reaction.

He smiled at her, moving away from Nick just so he wouldn't be able to punch him for being so stupid. "That's right! But don't tell anyone, you know how the media is with those celebrity weddings. Never any privacy..."

"Greg, he's not _such _a celebrity," Nick laughed nervously, aware that holding a pot of coffee in a magazine didn't quite make you a famous celebrity.

"Oh, more than you and I will ever be, no doubt," Sara smiled.

"I suppose," Nick said.

"You got it," Greg mumbled.

An awkward silence ensued before Greg finally worked up the courage to ask Sara if she would write the poem. He was pretty sure she'd say no, no doubt she had realised something was fishy.

"Of course I'll write the poem," Sara exclaimed, watching as Greg's head shot up from a defeated slouch. "Is there a particular theme Julie would like?"

"Well," Greg began, his spirits soaring at the fact that his plan was not dead, "she wants something light-hearted."

"And based around birds," Nick interjected. "She and her fiance are bird lovers, like me," he quickly added to clear up Sara's obvious confusion.

"Yeah, birds," Greg continued, slightly surprised as well. Nick always came up with the strangest suggestions. "Plus, your poem has to centre around the beginning of their romance where Julie could not get her fiance's attention. Sort of like a Romeo and Juliet love chase. That's all you need to write, as he's writing the second half of the poem where their love came together, obviously without the tragic consequences in Shakespeare. Oh, and have it written by Friday, please. I know it's a bit tight, having to write in a poem in two days, but I'm going to go and visit her on Saturday so that we can edit 'my' work."

"No problem, Greg, I'll have it to you by tomorrow. Though I must be off now," Sara replied.

"Thanks, Sara. Bye, then," Greg answered, giving her a friendly pat on the back as she walked out of the room, her bag in one hand and the picture in the other.

"See ya, Sar," Nick called out, even though Sara had now walked out of the room and looked deep in thought.

The pair watched her movements until she had disappeared. Only then did they dare exhale, amazed with their luck. An eruption of laughs echoed around the locker room, and once Nick and Greg had regained their composure, they gave each other high fives.

"So you think she fell for it?" Greg asked, crossing his fingers.

"I hope so. I guess we'll just have to wait and see," Nick responded. "In the meantime, though, let's work out how we're going to get Grissom to write the second half of that poem!"

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, I've been able to get the second chapter of this story out faster than I expected, so I hope you enjoyed it guys. The next chapter, where perhaps we get an insight into Sara's poetic talent, won't be out until mid November, like I said before, because exams are only a couple of days away now. In the meantime, please review, and to those who reviewed the first chapter, thankyou so very much!


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